What is the purpose of the HIPAA Security Rule?

The purpose of the HIPAA Security Rule is to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of Protected Health Information (PHI). This rule establishes a set of national standards designed to safeguard electronic PHI, ensuring that healthcare providers, health plans, and other entities comply with specific security requirements.

By focusing on these three key aspects—confidentiality ensures that PHI is accessible only to those who have the right to access it; integrity guarantees that PHI is accurate and unaltered; and availability means that authorized users have timely access to PHI when needed—healthcare organizations can better protect sensitive patient data from unauthorized access, breaches, and other security threats. This protection is critical in maintaining patient trust and satisfying legal obligations under HIPAA.

In contrast, other options focus on broader aspects of healthcare and do not specifically address the core intent of the HIPAA Security Rule, which is fundamentally concerned with managing electronic security measures for patient information.